Astral Foods Limited - Repurchase Of Astral Foods Ordinary Shares

     Astral Foods Limited - Repurchase Of Astral Foods Ordinary Shares          
     Astral Foods Limited                                                       
     (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)                             
(Reg. No. 1978/003194/06)                                                  
     (ISIN: ZAE000029757 & JSE Share code: ARL)                                 
     ("Astral Foods or the Company")                                            
     REPURCHASE OF ASTRAL FOODS ORDINARY SHARES                                 
1.   INTRODUCTION                                                          
     Astral Foods herewith announces the repurchase of  1 508 407 Astral Foods  
     ordinary shares (3.4% of the issued ordinary shares) on the open market of 
     the JSE Limited ("JSE"), in accordance with the general authority granted  
by Astral Foods shareholders at the annual general meeting held on 15      
     February 2006 to repurchase up to 20% ("the repurchase"). Together with    
     previous repurchases, shares cumulatively repurchased to date amount to 5  
     458 746(being 12.3%) of the issued ordinary shares.                        
2.   IMPLEMENTATION                                                        
     The repurchases of the 1 508 407 Astral Foods ordinary shares commenced on 
     28 November 2005 and continued on a day-to-day basis as market conditions  
     allowed.                                                                   
Details are as follows:-                                                   
     Number of ordinary shares repurchased              1 508 407               
     Value of ordinary shares repurchased             121 564 474               
     Highest price paid per ordinary share                R92.39                
Lowest price paid per ordinary share                 R69.04                
     Average price paid per ordinary share                R80.59                
     The number and percentage of ordinary shares                               
     which may still be repurchased by the company                              
in terms of the general authority                  3 445 237               
                                                        (7.7%)                  
Ordinary shares in issue on 15 February 2006           44 519 913               
Ordinary shares in issue on date of this                                        
announcement                                           44 627 513               
     3.   SOURCE OF FUNDS                                                       
     Repurchases to date have been funded from available cash resources.        
     4.   OPINION OF THE DIRECTORS                                              
At the time of the granting of the general authority the directors of      
     Astral Foods considered the impact of the repurchases and were of the      
     opinion that:-                                                             
     4.1  Astral Foods and the Group will be able, in the ordinary course of    
business, to pay its debts for a period of 12 months;                      
     4.2  the consolidated assets of Astral Foods and the Group are in excess of
     the consolidated liabilities, measured in accordance with the accounting   
     policies used in the audited annual financial statements for the year ended
30 September 2004;                                                         
     4.3  the ordinary share capital and consolidated reserves of Astral Foods  
     and the Group will be adequate for a period of 12 months; and              
     4.4  the working capital of Astral Foods and the Group will be adequate for
a period of 12 months.                                                     
     The directors further confirm that section 5.72(a) of the JSE Listing      
     Requirements has been complied with.                                       
     5.   FINANCIAL EFFECTS                                                     
The financial information below is included for the purposes of indicating 
     the effect of the repurchases on Astral Foods" earnings, headline earnings 
     and net asset value (NAV) per share is illustrated below. The directors of 
     the Company are responsible for the financial information below. The       
information is for illustrative purposes only and by it nature may not     
     fairly represent the Company"s financial position, changes in equity,      
     results of operations or cash flows.                                       
     Measure (in cents     Before the   After the     Change                    
per share)            repurchase   repurchase    (%)                       
     Basic earnings          688          703           +2%                     
     Headline earnings       687          702           +2%                     
     Diluted basic           670          684           +2%                     
earnings                                                                   
     Headline earnings       668          683           +2%                     
     Net asset value        2814         2397          -15%                     
     Net tangible asset     2510         2082          -17%                     
value                                                                      
     Notes                                                                      
     The "Before the repurchase" numbers are based on the results for the 6     
     months ended on 31 March 2006, excluding the after tax interest effect on  
earnings as a result of the shares bought back during this period.         
     The "After the repurchase" numbers are based on the results of the 6 months
     ended on 31 March 2006 adjusted for the after tax interest effect on       
     earnings as if all the shares were bought back on 1 October 2005.          
The weighted average number of shares used in calculating the different    
     earnings per share figures, has been adjusted with the number of shares    
     repurchased.                                                               
     6.   JSE LISTING                                                           
A total of 501 652 ordinary shares have been repurchased by a wholly-owned 
     subsidiary of Astral Foods, while 1 006 755 ordinary shares have been      
     purchased by the company and application to cancel the JSE listing in      
     respect of the                                                             
1 006 755 ordinary shares will be made.                                    
     Pretoria                                                                   
     1 June 2006                                                                
     Sponsor                                                                    
J.P. Morgan Equities Limited                                               
Date: 01/06/2006 03:23:11 PM Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za                     
Produced by the JSE SENS Department